Turin celebrates the 190th anniversary of the King and Cavour's favorite sweets
If you say Turin, you say Stratta
For 190 years, Stratta candies have been a symbol of Turin's taste. A family story that transcends the culture of beauty and goodness, reaching tables around the world through unique shapes, flavors, and colors. These creations become symbols in the central Piazza San Carlo, which has never lost its charm and where, this year, the legend is celebrated.
The historic shop is known for its sweets enclosed in elegant boxes handcrafted by Piedmontese artisans: small objects of desire that express the richness and diversity of the Stratta tradition, spanning four generations. "It was Aunt Adriana (Monzeglio, ed.)," says Monica Werling, who today runs the confectionery with her son Matteo Rangoni, "the true soul of this shop, and it was she who had the idea for the sweet boxes. She wanted to recreate the idea of a potpourri, combining spices and aromas in a single bouquet, and we still carry on this tradition today using paper cups containing small sweets in different colors depending on the time of year and the occasion." Escarole and candies that make Stratta's windows among the most beautiful in all of Turin.
Almost two centuries of history
It all began in 1836 thanks to Oreste Monzeglio, who opened a gourmet boutique in the 18th-century Palazzo Solaro del Borgo. Originally a wine and confectionery shop, it quickly won over local palates. Among the first businesses in the historic center to install gas lighting in 1840, Stratta quickly established itself as a point of reference for the Savoy Court, earning the title of "Supplier to the Royal House." Its wood and glass windows became (and still are) part of the unmistakable landscape of Piazza San Carlo.
The place and its products became a theatre and instrument of relationships, hospitality and representation, to the point of consolidating a historical bond with the Count of Cavour, a regular customer who, through the maison's specialities, transformed the convivial gesture into diplomatic language, making sweetness an instrument of international relations.
Since 2010, Stratta has also been a café-bar, and its patrons include not only Turin's jet set but also celebrities such as Pierce Brosnan and Renzo Arbore: "We make everything in-house," Werling continues, "from leavened breakfast pastries, including savory ones, to sandwich bread, from dry pastries to panettone, sandwich bread, and croissants. Our constant, as with our candies, is to maintain consistently high quality, as evidenced by our Gianduiotti and Gioie di Cavour, milk or dark chocolate spheres filled with gianduja or pistachio cream, covered with chopped hazelnuts or toasted pistachios, which we hand-wrap and sell only between October and March."
For 4 generations
Along with Adriana Monzeglio, sisters Rosa and Irma have been key players in the business for years, while today the company is led by siblings Dario and Monica Werling. Dario Werling, with the support of his daughter Rebecca and grandson Filippo, is responsible for the events division, with Rosa Monzeglio's constant, discreet presence embodying the authentic continuity of the family and the elegance of a brand.
Today, the company, whose production is entirely in Turin, boasts around fifty products: from Carminative Seeds, where herbaceous and spicy notes intertwine under a crunchy shell of sweetness (ginger, fennel, cinnamon, turmeric, rosemary, kummel, lavender, coriander, and anise) to the soft fruit jellies with flavors of lemon, orange, wild strawberry, grapefruit, green apple, eucalyptus and mint, peach, and currant. And then there are the Chocolate Hearts, the Ginevrine, essential and iconic, with timeless flavors like green apple, anise, violet, rose, vanilla, banana, peach, and cherry. The fruit-based Confetti are small gems with bright colors and soft centers, with flavors ranging from licorice to lime, pear to strawberry, cinnamon, mandarin, peach, lemon, green apple, and blueberry. The assorted Bonbons capture the collection's most retro essence: thin, transparent shells in a mosaic of shapes and colors. Completing the collection are the Grani, tiny sugary spheres with spicy centers that slowly release their scents (anise, mimosa, cumin, lavender, and coriander), the Licorice Roots, and the Crystallized Flowers, small gems born from rose, mint, and violet petals. Sweet Turin.